1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an optical element, specifically, a wire grid polarizer for visible spectrum light.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, various optical elements, e.g., wide band wire grid polarizers that effectively transmit certain polarized light and reflect polarized light that runs perpendicular to that light, have been being developed as disclosed in JP-T-2003-502708 and others.
In inorganic polarizers that are currently in practical use, after resist patterning being performed on a substrate, dry etching is performed using RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) or the like to form a metal embossed pattern. However, when forming an embossed pattern on the nano-order, it is necessary to strictly control the etching parameter, so it has been difficult to manufacture a highly-accurate polarizer at a high yield. Therefore, there has been a demand for manufacturing an optical element, such as a polarizer, that is more inexpensive, highly-accurate, and capable of being mass-produced in greater quantities.